Multivariate metal-organic frameworks generated through post-synthetic modification: impact and future directions

Reticular chemistry has proven to be invaluable over time, thanks to the structural versatility, and tailored porosity observed in structures like metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent-organic frameworks (COFs), and metal-organic polyhedra (MOPs). Despite the wide array of ligands and metals available for synthesizing MOFs, they are still somewhat constrained by the reliance on de novo conditions and the focus on generating MOFs with single ligand and metal. To surpass these limitations, researchers have established strategies to generate multivariate (MTV) MOF structures incorporating more than one ligand/metal into the crystal lattice. MTV-MOFs have demonstrated enhanced properties by virtue of the additional functionalities incorporated within their structures. One approach to developing MTV-MOFs is through post-synthetic modification (PSM), where new functionalities are introduced after the initial synthesis, thereby achieving the enhanced properties of MTV-MOFs even in cases where the new functionalities are incompatible with MOF synthesis.